How to Decorate with Photo Groupings

Like most people, you probably have photos lying around the house that you’d like to show off, but you just don’t know how. If you display them all in frames around the house, soon every surface will be taken over, and your space will look cluttered. The solution is a wall-mounted photo grouping. When put together well, a photo montage is a striking decoration, as well as way to show off precious memories.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 4 or more photos
• Frame for each photo
• Level
• Measuring tape
• Hammer
• Small nails

1. Pick out the photos you want to group together. Make sure there’s a theme running through them. Some examples include weddings, family portraits, friends, vacations or your children through the years.

2. Select frames for your photos. Only you know what looks good to you. If you want all of your frames to be exactly the same, that’s fine. If you enjoy a mishmash, that’s fine too. It lends a more cohesive look if the frames have one thing in common, for example, if they are all the same color or all the same shape.

3. Arrange your photos on the floor in the way you want them to be hung on the wall.

4. Hang from the center out. Pick up the center photo and hang it first, using a measuring tape to ensure evenly spaced photos. Then hang the photos immediately to the right, left, top, and bottom of the center photo, working your way out to the ends of the grouping.

Tips & Warnings

• Unless it’s an extreme close-up, don’t use photos smaller than 4x6 in a wall-mounted grouping.
• Using photos of different sizes is fine, as long as there are at least 2 of every size--especially smaller sizes.
• It usually works best to put the largest photo in the middle of the grouping as a centerpiece.
• Hang your photo grouping at eye level. In the living room, mount photos to be seen when entering the room, for example. If decorating the wall going up a stairwell, make sure you can easily see the photos from each step they’re hanging above.
• Make sure the frames you select have mounting hooks on the back and are not just meant to be displayed on a surface.